Delivering Happiness Book Review

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Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, 2010, New York, Business Plus, Tony Hsieh

Word Count: 1,432

Delivering Happiness is an autobiographical book written by Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, an online shoe retailer infamous for its company culture and excellence in customer service. Strengths of the book include Hsieh’s story-based approach and use of specific examples that detail his personal entrepreneurial journey, beginning with his first business venture in worm farming as a child. The personal vignettes he shares allow the reader to understand the experiences and thought-processes that shaped Hsieh into the leader he is today. An inevitable downside of the book being written by Hsieh himself is the lack of third-party objectivity; it is highly anecdotal and potentially biased with little analysis of Hsieh’s actions and leadership ability. Another weakness of the book is that it was written with the intention of being a manual for the company. Consequently, the book essentially serves as a marketing tool for the company and focuses heavily on the Zappos culture.

Due to its story-telling approach, Delivering Happiness fails to present a clear leadership profile of Hsieh. Instead the book utilizes a stream-of-conscious writing style to highlight key characteristics that have contributed to Hsieh’s success as a leader. It is evident that Hsieh is an incredibly visionary leader who is relentless about pursing his vision and willing to take risks to achieve his goals. Furthermore, he is able to gather people around him and influence and motivate them to join his team and work to achieve his objectives. However, the book presents these attributes through stories and never fully assesses them in a comprehensive leadership profile. The reader must assess questions of leadership on his own, parsing the effects of leadership style, situation, and luck from the personal story of Tony Hsieh.

Throughout the story, several strengths in...